On Friday, the new MacBook Air arrived (see unboxing, below). I have been using it ever since. It is a thing of elegance. Maybe even of beauty.
Yet for all of its slimness and sleekness, it is a hard machine to love.
First, some background. When you purchase a new MacBook Pro, or even a MacBook, there is a small thrill every time you open it up. You're reminded of the pleasant features that set it apart from a PC laptop.
This is the first Mac I've ever owned where I don't get that little thrill. And I think it's because of the smallish, 11-inch screen.
What I am saying is that an 11-inch screen does not feel big enough for an Apple laptop. At least, it is not big enough for what I like to use a Mac for.
It is good for writing, which I do plenty of. It is fine for iTunes (which I use less and less).
But it is a compromised experience for browsing the web (which is every log-on session) or using iPhoto, iMovie or GarageBand. These latter features are the reason that Macs stand out from PCs. To me, anyway. Compromise their functionality and you may as well be using a PC laptop.
There is another aspect of the MacBook Air which is a little worrying.
Macs usually deliver specs that reach the high end of what computers can do, power-wise. (This is one reason you pay a lot for them.) Apple doesn't do piece-of-shit netbooks.
And yet, my 11-inch MacBook Air has a 1.4Ghz Intel processor. Dual-core, admittedly. But 1.4Ghz is definitely a compromise: you wouldn't want to messing about too much with your smartphone-taken HD videos or your 6MB high res photos. Neither do you want to be running too many programs at the same time.
I'm not saying that the Air can't multi-task: it can. And I'm not suggesting that it should do the job of a graphically-muscular MacBook Pro. But there are more and more tasks in everyday mainstream life that take a little more firepower than 1.4Ghz will deliver. And if that is the case today, it is certain to be the case in four, three or even two years time.
This isn't meant as a full review of the MacBook Air. That will come in the paper in a couple of weeks. Just a few rambling initial thoughts.
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